Eyewear has been known for a long time and has been used to correct vision, protect the eyes from sunlight, protect the eyes from harmful objects and environments, and other various uses. Those who use eyewear often engage in sports and physical activities that require the athlete to perform in a dynamic and disruptive environment. For example, a surfer must endure breaking waves and a river kayaker must confront harsh white water turbulence. These turbulent conditions can cause the athlete's eyewear to fall off, which may result in reduced vision, lack of eye protection, and permanent loss of an expensive pair of glasses.
Athletes who require vision correction will frequently wear contact lenses. Unfortunately, bacteria in beaches and lakes can make contact lenses unsafe for athletes engaging in water sports because the bacteria from the water can accumulate in the lenses and cause various eye problems. Contact lenses are also undesirable during water sports because they can be easily washed out of the eye or forced out of position by the water. Thus, there is a need for eyewear that can be worn while engaging in water sports and other activities that involve exposure to extreme weather.
Various fasteners and straps have been used with eyewear in order to securely fasten eyewear to a user's head. However, various drawbacks still remain in existing eyewear assemblies, as discussed below.
Many prior art exist for underwater goggles for providing a water-tight and air-tight seal with the user's face when submerged under water. U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,855 to Brodbeck, U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,811 to Rhoades, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,899 to Pierotti are examples of such underwater goggles. While these goggles may prove useful for swimming and scuba diving, they are not well suited for water sports that generally occur above water or non-submerged water sports for various reasons. First, underwater goggles can be extremely uncomfortable since they apply a constant pressure to the eye sockets and head in order to maintain a seal. This seal is unnecessary when surfing, wind surfing, water skiing, kayaking and engaging in other various water sports because the athlete does not require underwater viewing. Second, the air-tight and water-tight seal can lead to fogging, which impedes vision. Third, the elastic straps used with underwater goggles introduces “play,” meaning that the strap can stretch under turbulent conditions, causing the goggles to shift, twist, and fill with water. The trapped water impedes vision as well. Thus, underwater goggles are not well suited for non-submerged water sports that involve turbulent conditions.
Protective goggles and glasses for protecting the eyes from harmful objects and substances are also well known. U.S. Pat. No. 7,665,840 to Winningham teaches protective goggles for playing lacrosse and US Patent Application Publication 2010/0091238 to Stanley teaches air-tight protective goggles for machinists. These protective goggles suffer from the same limitations as the underwater googles, namely, they are uncomfortable due to the constant pressure to the head and eyes, and can shift and twist due to the “play” of the elastic straps.
Various eyewear assemblies have been specifically designed for surfing and water sports. International Application Publication WO 97/33190 to Webster, for example, teaches a pair of sunglasses with a strap for securing the sunglasses to the user's face. The sunglasses are specifically designed to withstand dislodging from windy sailboat rides and turbulent waters experienced by surfers. While Webster does provide a pair of sunglasses that securely fastens to the user's face, the sunglasses and strap assembly is overly complex and very uncomfortable.
Other eyewear and strap assemblies for use during water sports include those sold at various websites such as, <www.silverfish.com>, <www.wearsurfglasses.com>, <www.seaspecs.com>, and <www.oakley.com>. FIG. 1, for example, shows the SilverFish® “Standard” model sunglasses. Unlike the underwater goggles previously discussed, the “Standard” model utilizes a non-elastic strap, thus minimizing “play” in the eyewear assembly. This configuration advantageously reduces the feeling of constant pressure to the eye sockets, nose, and head of the user. Moreover, this configuration avoids the problems of fogging and trapped water between the eyes and eyewear. The “Standard” model also uses a soft material at the “contact points” (e.g. nose bridge, earstem tips), thus providing a comfortable fit. However, the “Standard” model fails to provide a mechanism in which the strap can be removeable to allow use for both sports and non-sports uses.
Removeable straps for eyewear are taught in International Application Publication WO 96/24315 to Barr and US Patent Application Publication 2004/0174492 to Scherer. The eyewear assemblies taught in Barr and Scherer have an elastic strap that can be completely removed and replaced with earstems. When the strap is attached the eyewear functions as underwater goggles, and when the earstems are attached the eyewear can be used for casual and social purposes. While this versatility may be useful, the eyewear in Barr and Schere still suffer from all the disadvantages of underwater goggles when used for surfing and other non-submerged water sports that do not require an air-tight seal.
A sunglasses design with a removeable strap is also sold by SilverFish®. The design is called the “S-Rat” model and is shown in FIG. 2. The “S-Rat” design provides a non-elastic removeable strap that securely fastens to the tip of the earstems. While this design successfully achieves “dual functionality” (it can be used during water sports or as a casual pair of sunglasses), the earstem tips can be uncomfortable as they are made from a hard material, as it was not appreciated that secure fasteners can be attached to soft materials. As used herein the term “soft” means a material generally made of rubber, silicon, gel, plastic or any other polymers that have the characteristics of being bendable without breaking.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,760 to Applicant, Razin, teaches an eyewear assembly with two rigid earstems and slots at the ends. A removeable strap having a hook-and-loop fastener can be fed through the slots, allowing the eyewear to be securely fastened to the wearer's head. By utilizing “restrict points” on the user's head and face, this particular eyewear configuration eliminates the need for a complex strap assembly. The eyewear in Razin also eliminates the need for an elastic strap, thus avoiding the uncomfortable application of a constant pressure to the wearer's eyes and head. However, the Applicant failed to appreciate the use of a soft material for the earstem ends until the Applicant appreciated the present inventive subject matter.
These and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Unless the context dictates the contrary, all ranges set forth herein should be interpreted as being inclusive of their endpoints, and open-ended ranges should be interpreted to include commercially practical values. Similarly, all lists of values should be considered as inclusive of intermediate values unless the context indicates the contrary.
Thus, there is still a need for an eyewear and removeable strap assembly that is simple, comfortable, and securely fastens to a user's head.